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Share(א) וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ בְנֵֽי־יִ֠שְׂרָאֵל כָּל־הָ֨עֵדָ֤ה מִדְבַּר־צִן֙ בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב הָעָ֖ם בְּקָדֵ֑שׁ וַתָּ֤מָת שָׁם֙ מִרְיָ֔ם וַתִּקָּבֵ֖ר שָֽׁם׃(ב) וְלֹא־הָ֥יָה מַ֖יִם לָעֵדָ֑ה וַיִּקָּ֣הֲל֔וּ עַל־מֹשֶׁ֖ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹֽן׃
(1) The Israelites arrived in a body at the wilderness of Zin on the first new moon, and the people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there.(2) The community was without water, and they joined against Moses and Aaron.
(א) "ולא היה מים לעדה" - מכאן שכל מ' שנה היה להם הבאר בזכות מרים
Had no water: From here [we learn that] all forty years they had the well in Miriam’s merit.
...and Miriam died there... and there was no water...: Another thing, why did the well disappear with the death of Miriam? In order that everyone should know just how righteous she was and that they should be greatly upset and do kindness to her. One finds that when a great righteous person dies, they lock the market so that the masses will be upset and do kindness to them.
(א)הנני עומד לפניך שם על הצור בחורב. הצור הזה שברפידים הוא הסלע שבקדש הכל אחד והוא היה בארה של מרים והלך כל ימי המדבר עמהם וזהו שאמר לשון הנני כלשון האמור במן הנני ממטיר לכם ללמד כשם שהמן עמד לישראל ארבעים שנה כן עמד הבאר הזה, ועוד כי כשם שנגלית שכינה במן שנאמר וראיתם, את כבוד ה׳ כן נגלית בכאן על הצור לבאר כי היה ענין הבאר פלא קיים כפלא המן.
(1) הנני עומד לפניך שם על הצור בחורב, “here I shall stand in front of you there by the Chorev (mountain).” This rock at Refidim was the same rock which we encounter almost 40 years later at Kadesh. This was also the source of the well of Miriam which traveled with the Israelites through the desert during all those years (compare Bamidbar Rabbah 1,2). The very word הנני used by G’d prior to the rock erupting in a well was the same as that used by G’d prior to releasing the manna from heaven. Just as the manna became a daily feature for the remainder of their trek through the desert until Moses’ death, so the well which appeared here for the first time became the Israelites’ constant companion at least until the death of Miriam. Furthermore, just as the giving of the manna had been preceded by a revelation of G’d’s glory (16,7), so the miracle of the rock erupting as a well was also preceded by a revelation of the glory of G’d seeing it was an ongoing miracle just as was that of the manna (compare Nachmanides).
(א)ולא היה מים לעדה. כשמתה מרים נסתלק הבאר כי היה הבאר בזכות מרים שהיה לה זכות המים ממשה, שנאמר (שמות ב׳:ד׳) ותתצב אחותו מרחוק. ומה שנסתלק עתה במיתתה ראיה שבזכותה היה עמהם, ומכאן שכל ארבעים שנה היה להם הבאר.
(1) ולא היה מים לעדה, “The congregation had no water.” As soon as Miriam died, the well which had traveled with the Israelites all these years ceased providing water. The water which the people had enjoyed all these years was due to the merit of Miriam who had stood by watching what would happen to her infant brother when he was in a basket in the reeds at the edge of the river (Exodus 2,4). G’d had rewarded her for that act of kindness by making her the provider of water for Moses’ people. The people had not appreciated this until the well ceased with Miriam’s death.
(4)without water. Is the timing of the present complaint for water significant? Miriam is closely associated with water: she observes the deliverance of Moses from drowning in the Nile (Exodus 2:1–9), and she celebrates with him at the sea (Exodus 15:20–21). Right before she dies, new ritual instructions require “water of lustration” that is made from “living water” (Numbers 19). And now, immediately after Miriam’s death, the people desperately cry for water. Because the two episodes follow each other sequentially, the Rabbis explicitly connect Miriam’s death to the lack of water. The linkage suggested to the midrashic imagination that she was the source of the water now gone.
(6) “The community was without water” [20:2]. Israel had water for forty years because of the merit of Miriam, and when she died they had no water. (7) The woman is compared to a well. The more one takes water from it, the more water comes into it. So too is the woman. When she does acts of lovingkindness with poor people then her money and goods also increase, as the water in the well. So too, we find that our ancestors found their wives at the well. Isaac sent Eliezer and Rebecca came to the well and gave him and his camels to drink. Jacob encountered Rachel at the well, and Moses Our Teacher encountered Zipporah at the well. Women have few positive commandments, but to give charity. As soon as the well ceased, Israel gathered around Moses and Aaron, who were mourning Miriam. The Holy One said to them: since you are mourners, should Israel die of thirst? Stand up, take the staff and give Israel water.
(1) The community had no water: Food nourishes the body, but the body needs water in order to absorb the nutrients in the food. Allegorically, the soul’s “food” is the Torah and its “water” is the Torah’s ability to influence all facets of our personalities, all types of people, and all aspects of life. As we have seen, Miriam was the one who ensured that there would be a new generation of Jews to carry on God’s mission. She both encouraged the Jewish people to continue having children and saved their newborns from Pharaoh’s decree. On account of her efforts to ensure that the Torah would continue to “flow” into the next generation, the well existed in her merit. With her passing, Moses had to assume her role. This teaches us that when other Jews are in physical or spiritual danger we must come to their aid, even if offering this type of assistance is not our forte. When we help others, God in turn will help us with our own needs.
(ג)וּפִי הַבְּאֵר. בְּאֵרָהּ שֶׁל מִרְיָם שֶׁהָיְתָה הוֹלֶכֶת עִם יִשְׂרָאֵל בַּמִּדְבָּר בְּכָל הַמַּסָּעוֹת. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים, שֶׁפָּתְחָה פִּיהָ וְאָמְרָה שִׁירָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר כא) עֲלִי בְאֵר עֱנוּ לָהּ:
(3)and the mouth of the well: The well of Miriam that went with Israel in the wilderness on all of the journeys. And some say, that it opened its mouth and uttered song, as it stated (Numbers 21:17), "rise up, O well; answer it."
ובמי באר יטעמו כל המשקים כאשר היה ביציאת מצרים:
At that time also the waters they drank in the desert due to the merit of Miriam, will assume the taste of any liquid they will fancy.
ר' יוסי בר' יהודה אומר:שלשה פרנסים טובים עמדו לישראל. אלו הןמשה ואהרן ומרים.וג' מתנות טובות ניתנו על ידם ואלו הןבאר וענן ומן.באר בזכות מרים עמוד ענן בזכות אהרן מן בזכות משה.מתה מרים נסתלק הבאר שנאמר (במדבר כ, א) ותמת שם מרים וכתיב בתריה ולא היה מים לעדה...
R. Yossi son of R. Judah says: Three good leaders had arisen for Israel, namely Moses, Aaron and Miriam, and for their sakes three good things were conferred [upon Israel], namely, the Well, the Pillar of Cloud, and the Manna.
The Well -- for the merit of Miriam;
The Pillar of Cloud --for the merit of Aaron;
The Manna -- for the merit of Moses.
When Miriam died the well disappeared, as it is said, "And Miriam died there," and immediately follows [the verse], "And there was no water for the congregation...."
translation by Soncino
(א)ולא היה מים לעדה. על צד העונש חסרו המים לפי שלא הספידוה כראוי, כי במשה ואהרן נאמר ויבכו אותם בני ישראל וכאן לא נאמר ויבכו אותה ונאמר ותמת שם ותקבר שם, כי במקום שמתה שם תהא קבורתה לאלתר ונשכחה כמת מלב ולא הרגישו בהעדרה כלל ע"כ נחסרו להם המים כדי שידעו למפרע שהבאר היה בזכות מרים
"And there was not water for the congregation"
The people lacked water as a punishment because they did not mourn for her appropriately. The text tells us about Moses's and Aaron's deaths "the Children of Israel wept for them," and here, (in the story of Miriam's death), it doesn't say "they wept for her," and it does say, "She died there and they buried her there." In the place that she died, that will be her burial place forever, and she was forgotten as dead from the heart, and they did not feel her absenceat all. Therefore, they lacked the water so that they should know retroactivelythat the well existed because of the merit of Miriam.
